Simon Tyers watches Sky's top pundit at work

Nearly two years into his time as Sky’s Super Sunday expert-in-residence, it’s hard to pin down what exactly Jamie Redknapp has brought to television punditry. He has simply made an art form out of being there, telling us exactly what we’ve just seen and how both teams might be trying something different in the second half. The conviction with which he relays his beliefs is such that Richard Keys and the other guest often seem overawed by the rapid flow of homilies and overuse of the descriptive phrase “top, top”.

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Brian Mawhinney comes up with a ridiculous idea

Anyone who watches matches regularly would know that the proposal to stage shootouts at the end of drawn Football League games is a stupid idea. Which is why it’s alarming that the suggestion was made by the chairman of the League, Brian Mawhinney who, one would assume, attends matches regularly. If he does indeed pay attention at matches, you would think he’d be aware that shootouts won’t make them more exciting. They would in fact have the reverse effect – teams already inclined to play for a draw would have even more incentive to do so with the prospect of gaining an extra point.

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Thursday 1 Emre is accused of having racially abused Ali Bangura of Watford; the Newcastle player was previously charged with insulting Everton’s black players in December. Anton Ferdinand will face trial for alleged assault over an incident at an Essex nightclub last year. Alan Knill is dismissed by Rotherham, who are without a win in 14 games.

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Scunthorpe’s promotion from the last regional Third Division. By Geoff Wallis

The long-term significance
This season sounded the death knell of the two regional divisions that had occupied the third tier of English league football since the early 1920s. The top division of the Southern League had been absorbed into the Football League as the Third Division for the 1920-21 season, adding the suffix (South) when its northern counterpart, drawn from a variety of minor leagues, was formed a year later. Only one team from each Third Division was promoted each season, while the bottom club in both sections had to apply for re-election. For 1958-59 the two regional sections were merged, with the top and bottom halves forming new Third and Fourth Divisions respectively, thus introducing the delights of Tyneside to Torquay United fans and the hotspots of Colchester to their Bury counterparts.

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The response of the authorities, at the time and later, to the crush involving Manchester United supporters at Lens would have been all too familiar to those who watch English club sides abroad, says Adam Brown

The problems experienced by some Manchester United supporters at their Champions League fixture in Lens may have attracted an unusual number of tabloid headlines, but they should not have come as a surprise to anybody.

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